Report of the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada on the 37th General Election Held on November 27, 2000

Archived

More to do after election day

For most voters, hearing the results late on election night
or early the next day probably marked the end of the event – a right exercised,
a duty done. But for thousands of election officers, candidates and their official
agents and auditors, the work was far from over.

Validation of the results

In each riding, the returning officer had to validate the results
of the election as soon as possible after he or she received all the ballot
boxes.

In the past, this process was known as the official addition
of the votes, and took approximately eight hours. After the polls closed, the
deputy returning officer for each polling station would count the ballots, write
down the totals on a Statement of the Vote form, seal the form with the
ballots in the ballot box, and return the ballot box to the returning officer.
The returning officer then had to open each ballot box, retrieve the original
Statement of the Vote form completed by the deputy returning officer,
verify each polling station's results (mainly looking for mistakes in addition),
and add up all the numbers from all of the polling stations.

Under the provisions of the new Act, the returning officer only
has to check the Statement of the Vote, which is now returned separately
with the ballot boxes. The boxes need only be opened if there is a problem with
the Statement of the Vote or it is missing. The new process was much
less time-consuming for the returning officer, the assistant returning officer
and any candidates or representatives present.

Recounts

Judicial recounts of the ballots were completed in five ridings
after election day. In all cases, the candidates initially declared elected
were confirmed.

In two ridings, recounts were automatically called for under
the Canada Elections Act, because the margin between the first- and second-place
candidates was less than one one-thousandth of the votes cast. In the riding
of Champlain, Quebec, after validation of the results, the Bloc Québécois
candidate, Marcel Gagnon, had a majority of seven votes over the Liberal Party
of Canada candidate, Julie Boulet. The recount was completed on December 7,
and increased the majority won by Marcel Gagnon to 15 votes. In Laval Centre,
Quebec, after validation of the results, the Bloc Québécois candidate,
Madeleine Dalphond-Guiral, had a majority of 32 votes over the Liberal Party
of Canada candidate, Pierre Lafleur. As a result of the recount completed on
December 6, Madeleine Dalphond-Guiral's majority increased to 42 votes.

In three ridings where the margin between the first two candidates
exceeded one one-thousandth of the votes cast, one or more candidates requested
a judicial recount. In Saskatoon–Rosetown–Biggar, Saskatchewan, after
validation of the results, the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance candidate,
Carol Skelton, had a majority of 73 votes over the New Democratic Party candidate,
Dennis Gruending. The results of the recount, completed on December 9,
reduced the majority won by Carol Skelton to 68 votes. In Leeds–Grenville,
Ontario, after validation of the results, the Liberal Party of Canada candidate,
Joe Jordan, had a majority of 63 votes over the Canadian Reform Conservative
Alliance candidate, Gord Brown. The recount, which was completed on December
6, reduced the majority won by Joe Jordan to 55 votes. And in Matapédia–Matane,
Quebec, after validation of the results, the Bloc Québécois candidate,
Jean-Yves Roy, had a majority of 282 votes over the Liberal Party of Canada
candidate, Marc Bélanger. The recount was completed on December 7, and
reduced the majority won by Jean-Yves Roy to 276 votes.

Recounts were requested in three other ridings, but the requests
were rescinded either before the recount began (Regina–Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan)
or before it was completed (Palliser and Regina–Lumsden–Lake Centre,
both in Saskatchewan). In Regina–Qu'Appelle and Palliser, the results of
the validation were the final results, and in Regina–Lumsden–Lake
Centre, the winning candidate's margin increased from 160 votes to 161 before
the recount was discontinued.

Return of the writs

Winning candidates might have thought that they were elected
on election day but, strictly speaking, they were not elected until the returning
officer declared a winner. Six days after each returning officer validated the
results, he or she declared the winning candidate elected by completing what
is called the return of the writ, a form on the back of the writ sent
to the returning officer by the Chief Electoral Officer at the start of the
election period. If there was a recount in the riding, before declaring a candidate
elected, the returning officer had to wait for a certificate from the judge,
setting out the number of votes cast for each candidate.

Then the returning officer sent a copy of the return of the
writ to each candidate, and returned the writ itself – and all other election
documents – to the Chief Electoral Officer. In the order that he received
each writ, the Chief Electoral Officer recorded it, and published in the Canada
Gazette the names of the candidates that the returning officers declared
elected. The candidates' names appeared in the Canada Gazette for December
6, 7, 8, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18 and 19, 2000 (volume 134, numbers 12–20).

Of the elected candidates, 45 were new members and 256 were
re-elected members of the House of Commons, three of whom were not sitting members
at the dissolution of the 36th Parliament. The final number of seats won by
each party after election day, and held by the parties and an independent MP
36 days earlier at the dissolution of Parliament, are shown in Table 6.

Table 6
Number of seats in the House of Commons,
by political affiliation

Political affiliation

After election day, November 27, 2000

At the dissolution of Parliament,
October 22, 2000

Liberal Party of Canada

172

161

Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance

66

58

Bloc Québécois

38

44

New Democratic Party

13

19

Progressive Conservative Party of Canada

12

15

Independent

–

4

As a final task, returning officers packed up their materials
and equipment and had them delivered to Elections Canada's Distribution Centre
or to their suppliers, ready for the next electoral event. But even then, their
work was not quite finished, because they still had to undertake their post-election
analysis and review. They would be attending meetings with their senior staff
(and, in some cases, in Ottawa) to share their experiences, and making written
suggestions for improvements and changes.

Final voters lists

Immediately after the election, the returning officers sent
back to Elections Canada their REVISE databases with the voters lists for each
riding. In addition to the preliminary lists supplied by Elections Canada at
the beginning of the election, these databases now recorded all the elector
registration information gathered during revision and at the polls – address
changes, corrections of various kinds, new registrations, and deletions. Elections
Canada staff integrate the elector information of incarcerated electors, Canadian
Forces electors and Canadian citizens temporarily residing outside Canada who registered
to vote under the Special Voting Rules with the information in the 301 databases,
and generate the final voters lists. The total number of registered electors
was 21 243 473; the comprehensive final lists will be completed by
the end of March 2001, when registered political parties and members of Parliament
will receive electronic copies.

National Register of Electors

The 301 REVISE databases have another important use: to update
the National Register of Electors with data provided by electors during the
election. Before the new elector information can be integrated into the Register
database, a complex and time-consuming process of data standardization and analysis
must be carried out. Register staff will be working on this task before adding
information from the customary update cycle, and then producing the new voters
lists that the Act requires them to send to members of Parliament and registered
political parties each year on October 15.

With the help of specialized software, Register staff will review
the more than 3.6 million changes made to the voters lists during the election,
to ensure that only correct and verified data is added to the Register, and
that we have an accurate understanding of what these changes were, and when
and why they were made. This includes verifying codes assigned by returning
officers against the type of changes actually made; reviewing the deletions
of deceased electors to identify cases that were not correctly matched with
vital statistics data, to improve matching rules; checking for other irregularities
and standardizing addresses; and finding and dealing with duplications of elector
information.

There were very few duplicate records on the preliminary voters
lists, since the Register maintenance system is designed to avoid introducing
them. Some duplicates were introduced during revision, when new electors were
registered at more than one address (for example, some students were registered
at a school address as well as a home address). Duplicates on the final lists
most commonly stem from moves between ridings. Electors on the preliminary lists
who asked to be registered at a new address in a different riding were removed
from the lists at their old addresses only if the new occupants requested the
removal.

Duplicates will be identified and removed in three phases. First,
we will deal with duplicates that can be readily identified using currently
available information because the name, address and date of birth are the same.
The second phase will involve comparisons against updates from our data suppliers,
like the 2001 file that the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency will release to
Elections Canada later this year. These sources will help link some pairs of
elector records with the same name and date of birth and different addresses.
In the third phase, letters will be sent to electors who are listed at two addresses,
and who cannot be precisely matched during the update cycle. The Canada Elections
Act requires Elections Canada to write to these electors, requesting confirmation
of their registration information, before removing them from the Register. Electors
have 60 days to respond. A similar three-phase process after the 1997 general
election resulted in the removal of some 229 000 duplicate records, despite
the fact that an enumeration was conducted immediately before the election.
Of the 229 000 duplicates, 195 000 were removed in response to the
phase three mail-out.

Using post-mortem information, combined with analyses of the
changes made to the lists in the ridings and their quality, the Register staff
will develop recommendations for improvements in elector registration and Register
maintenance and update procedures. They will also assess the coverage of the
final lists by age group (with particular attention to youth), estimate the
number of electors not currently registered, and determine the post-election
quality level of the Register so that measurement of quality can continue after
the normal maintenance cycle has resumed.

Preliminary information about some of these issues is available
now. Table 7 shows figures for the past five federal general elections, comparing
factors in the quality of voters lists with voter turnout. Register staff estimate
that some 4.8 percent of citizens of voting age are not currently registered,
consistent with figures for the four preceding elections. The numbers of Canadian
citizens shown in the table are estimated, based on Statistics Canada census
data. The numbers of duplicates on the final voters lists for 1993 and 2000
have been estimated, while the 1997 figure represents the number of duplicates
removed from the National Register of Electors after the final list data for
the 1997 election were added to the Register.

Table 7 General elections, 1984–2000
Comparison of number of Canadian citizens
of voting age and
number of electors on final lists

Event

Canadian
citizens
of voting age

Final
lists

Total
ballots cast

Voter
turnout

Duplicates

1984

17 573 000

16 775 011

12 638 424

75.3%

unknown

1988

18 527 000

17 639 001

13 281 191

75.3%

unknown

1993

19 893 000

19 906 796

13 863 135

69.6%

703 000

1997

20 428 000

19 663 478

13 174 698

67.0%

229 000

2000

21 481 000

21 243 473

12 997 185

61.2%*

614 000

*

The turnout of 61.2% in 2000 was adjusted to arrive at
the final turnout of 64.1%, after our normal maintenance of the National
Register of Electors to remove the names of deceased electors and duplicates
arising from moves. The Chief Electoral Officer of Canada explained the
adjustment during his appearance before the Subcommittee on Electoral
Boundaries Readjustment on October 6, 2003, and his appearance
to discuss the 2004 Main Estimates before the Standing Committee on Procedure
and House Affairs on March 5, 2004.

Event

Deceased

Number
of registered voters

Citizens
of voting
age not
registered

Type
of registration system

1984

unknown

16 775 011

4.5%

enumeration

1988

unknown

17 639 001

4.8%

enumeration

1993

133 000

19 070 796

4.1%

reused list

1997

9 000

19 425 478

4.9%

enumeration

2000

177 000

20 452 473

4.8%

Register

Enforcement

Before the new Canada Elections Act came into effect
on September 1, 2000, the Act could only be enforced through the criminal
courts. Although prosecution remains the ultimate enforcement tool, the changes
give the Commissioner of Canada Elections two new tools: the ability to seek
an injunction during an electoral event, and the power to enter into compliance
agreements. These new provisions can act as effectively to prevent breaches
of the Act as to stop those breaches after the fact.

The injunction power allows the Commissioner to apply to a court
for an order requiring a person to do something that person is required to do
under the Act, or prohibiting a person from doing something that is prohibited
by the Act. The power can be used only during an election period, and under
circumstances warranting its use. The Commissioner must take into account the
nature and seriousness of the act or omission, the need to ensure the fairness
of the electoral process, and the public interest, and he must have reasonable
grounds to believe a person is likely to commit, is about to commit, or has
committed, an act or omission contrary to the Act.

Although the Commissioner did not use his new authority to seek
an injunction during the election, he was prepared to do so. A law firm had
been selected to secure an injunction, if appropriate, and all the likely courts
before which an application for an injunction might have been brought were advised
of the new authority and its potential use during the election.

As an alternative to prosecution, the Commissioner can now enter
into a compliance agreement, if he believes on reasonable grounds that a person
has committed, is likely to commit, or is about to commit, an offence under
the Act. These agreements are based on the voluntary agreement of the offender
or potential offender to comply with the Act, and require the consent of that
person to the publication of the agreement. The authority can be used both during
and between elections. The Commissioner is currently reviewing all incidents
of non-compliance brought to his attention as a result of the election, in light
of this new power.

By March 5, 2001, 382 complaints related to the 37th general
election had been brought to the attention of the Commissioner; 251 cases have
been resolved, 131 remain open, and investigations are underway. Generally,
the offences relate to failure to indicate the authority for election advertising,
removal of election advertising, television and radio advertising, voting rules,
third party advertising, and complaints regarding administrative matters. The
new third party advertising and registration provisions of the Act have been
the source of 14 complaints so far. The Commissioner has given his consent to
four prosecutions relating to voting and obstruction of the electoral process.

Although some offences occurred during the election period,
many may occur months after the election. Additional complaints may be filed
following the deadline for submitting candidates' and third parties' financial
returns, four months after election day. Complaints may be filed up to six months
after the commission of the offence. As the cases progress, updated statistics
on complaints, investigations and prosecutions appear in the Chief Electoral
Officer's periodic reports and publications.

The Commissioner's office will continue to evaluate the full
impact of the Act's new and amended provisions.

Reimbursements and election expenses

Within three weeks of election day, we issued the initial reimbursement
cheques for election expenses to the 685 candidates (about 38 percent of all
candidates) who were elected or who received 15 percent or more of the valid
votes cast. The average reimbursement was approximately $10 180.00.

All candidates must file their election expenses returns by
March 27, 2001. Registered parties have until May 28 to file their election
expenses reports. Based on these returns, further reimbursements will be made
to those parties and candidates who qualify. The 48 registered third parties
must file their reports by March 27, and we will finish their audits by the
end of April.